Phantasmagoria (Curved Air album)

Phantasmagoria is a 1972 album by Curved Air. It reached No. 20 in the UK Charts[2] and is notable for its early use of the EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer to process lead singer Sonja Kristina's voice on the second side. Unavailable for many years, the album was reissued on CD in April 2007.

Phantasmagoria
Studio album by
Curved Air
ReleasedApril 1972
RecordedAdvision Studios, London, March 1972 ("Ultra-Vivadi" and "Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway?": E.M.S., London)
GenreProgressive rock, art rock
Length38:04
LabelWarner Bros.[1]
ProducerCurved Air, Colin Caldwell
Curved Air chronology
Second Album
(1971)		 Phantasmagoria
(1972)		 Air Cut
(1973)

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Allmusic called Phantasmagoria "the culmination of all that Curved Air promised over the course of its predecessors" and "the band's grandest hour by far". Their review praised the vast majority of the individual tracks, especially complimenting the blending of musical styles and absence of pretentiousness.[1]

Track listing

Side One

  1. "Marie Antoinette" (Darryl Way, Sonja Kristina Linwood) – 6:20
  2. "Melinda (More or Less)" (Linwood) – 3:25
  3. "Not Quite the Same" (Way, Linwood) – 3:44
  4. "Cheetah" (Way) – 3:33
  5. "Ultra-Vivaldi" (Way, Francis Monkman) – 1:22

Side Two

  1. "Phantasmagoria" (Monkman) – 3:15
  2. "Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over Anyway?"[3](Monkman) – 3:24
  3. "Over and Above" (Monkman) – 8:36
  4. "Once a Ghost, Always a Ghost" (Monkman, Linwood) – 4:25

One other track was recorded and released as a single, with "Phantasmagoria" on the b-side:

  1. "Sarah's Concern" (Way, Linwood) - 3:20

Personnel
Curved Air
Guest musicians
  • Annie Stewart – flute (2)
  • Crispian Steele-Perkins – trumpet
  • Paul Cosh – trumpet
  • James Watson – trumpet
  • George Parnaby – trumpet
  • Chris Pyne – trombone
  • Alan Gout – trombone
  • David Purser – trombone
  • Steve Saunders – trombone
  • Frank Ricotti – xylophone, vibes
  • Mal Linwood-Ross – percussion
  • Colin Caldwell – percussion
  • Jean Akers – percussion
  • Doris the Cheetah — vocals (4)
Technical
  • Richard Rockwood - art direction
  • John Gorham - cover illustration

References
  1. "allmusic ((( Phantasmagoria > Overview )))". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  2. "The Official Charts Company - Curved Air - Phantasmagoria". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  3. The poem read by Linwood and processed by EMS Synthi 100 is from Lewis Carroll's "Phantasmagoria and Other poems":
    Canto IV--Hys Nouryture "Oh, when I was a little Ghost, A merry time had we! Each seated on his favourite post, We chumped and chawed the buttered toast They gave us for our tea."
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